Final answer:
There are six basic emotions identified by psychology: happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, anger, and surprise, each with specific action tendencies ranging from seeking social contact to avoiding or confronting threats.
Step-by-step explanation:
Emotions are a crucial element of human experience and guide a wide range of our behaviors. Psychology research has identified six basic emotions that are recognized universally.
These emotions are happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, anger, and surprise. Each of these emotions is associated with a specific action tendency, which refers to the likely behavior that accompanies the emotional state.
- Happiness tends to lead to actions that involve seeking out social contact and sharing positive experiences with others.
- Sadness often results in behaviors aimed at seeking comfort and withdrawal from activities that can worsen the emotional state.
- Disgust leads to an avoidance tendency, where the individual is motivated to stay away from the object or situation causing the emotion.
- Fear elicits a fight or flight response, either confronting the threat or escaping from it.
- Anger tends to result in aggression or actions that aim to address the perceived injustice causing the emotion.
- Surprise can lead to behaviors that focus on learning more about the unexpected event or situation.
Emotions can be influenced by psychological appraisal, physiological arousal, and subjective experiences. Our unique backgrounds and cultures can shape how we experience and express these emotions. The underlying biological processes are also important, as limbic structures in the brain play a notable role in emotional processing.